JANNES

(Janʹnes) [possibly, he who misleads or seduces].

A resister of Moses with whom Paul compares apostates who resist the truth. (2 Tim. 3:8, 9) Jannes and Jambres, whose ‘madness became plain to all,’ are not identified in the Hebrew Scriptures, but it is generally agreed that they were two of the leading men in Pharaoh’s court, perhaps the magic-practicing priests who resisted Moses and Aaron on their numerous appearances there. (Ex. 7:11, 12, 22; 8:17-19; 9:11) The amount of tradition that agrees with this greatly outweighs what little there is to the contrary. Non-Christian sources, such as Numenius, Pliny the Elder, Lucius Apuleius, a Qumran writing, the Targum of Jonathan, and several apocryphal writings all mention one or both of these men.